Football News

The last time Chelsea took on PSG in Paris, things didn’t go according to the plan and it was the home side that prevailed by three goes to one. It was a devastating results for the English, but they managed to score twice at Stamford bridge while preventing opponents from scoring at least once. That was a fortunate turn of events and something that is unlikely to happen in this double leg it round.

PSG will feature the same starting formation that they are using in championship games, with three strikers and for midfielders. The problem is that even though they have so much quality upfront, recent results are disappointing and the team is in danger of failing to defend the title. Over the weekend, they allowed two goes in the last minutes of the game and had to settle for a single point in Paris.

This enabled Lyon to expand its advantage at the top of the division, while PSG failed to take advantage of Marseille’s draw. Ibrahimovic, Cavani and Lavezzi are going to play together against Chelsea and the host are hoping that these three strikers will throw the visitors balance. At least on paper, the English side doesn’t have strikers of the same caliber and will rely almost exclusively on Diego Costa.

The Spanish striker is very prolific in England, confirming the high expectations that were built around him after he was transferred from Atletico Madrid. He was spearheaded the offensive and Remi is going to join him up front, with two strikers being all that Chelsea will use in Paris. Mourinho is once again coaching the team, which means a great deal for the visitors as he is an immensely experienced manager who knows how to tackle these sorts of challenges.

PSG is not exactly in top shape these days and the fact that they have such a hard time at winning home games against mediocre teams doesn’t bode well ahead of this fixture. Chelsea will try to take advantage of their struggles and win the first leg, so that by the time they returned to London, they will be already ahead. Anything short of a home win will send shockwaves in Paris among the fans and management alike, so the pressure is crushing on PSG.

Punters should take the 0:0 Asian handicap and bet on Chelsea to win on the road, because the odds exceed even value. A single point would be sufficient for the Blues, because they are invincible at Stamford Bridge where they already won 10 matches this season and will probably prevail against PSG.

It is no news that English teams don’t fare too well in the Champions League, but their recent performance has been disappointing on so many levels. Arsenal used to be one of the brightest spots when it came to European competitions, but the season, they are doing the worst. In two games so far, they only managed to win one match, at home against Galatasaray, in a match where they had favorite status.

Assuming they get their best players to play and no fitness concerns will plague the visitors, Arsenal should prevail with relative ease in Belgium. They are fortunate to be playing against Anderlecht, a team that frequently makes the Champions League groups, but never advanced the next stage. These are usually the guys that drop all the points and when they manage to finish a game in a draw, it is a result of a 90 minutes siege, in which they defended with all lines.

The Belgian side is very likely to have the same approach tonight, due to the fact that they don’t have the players to compete against Arsenal in an open game. Not surprisingly, they lost one game so far, in Germany against Dortmund and then only managed to scrap one point at home against Galatasaray. The best case scenario for Anderlecht is to finish in the third place and advance to Europa league, but the most likely outcome is for them to conclude their campaign this winter.

Despite the fact that Arsenal has been struggling over the last couple of weeks, bookmakers are reluctant to overprice the visitors and the odds don’t exceed 1.80 for a victory on the road. It is not tremendous value, but with the hosts being more of a nuisance, it is still worth backing the English side to earn a rare win away from home. Punters would be wise to place the wagers now, because even these low odds are probably going to drop by this time tomorrow.

Rome has extended its invincible run to 10 consecutive games, but the most important part is that they managed to win the last seven in a row. Everything seems to be going their way and the potent offensive is the main reason for why they managed to outshine opponents in all competitions. They are facing one of the most difficult teams tonight, when they travel to Manchester, to compete against City.

At the time of writing, the Italians are tied for the lead with Juventus and the reigning champions are also playing in the Champions League. This means that the pressure is every bit as intense on both as nobody can take a step back and rest key players ahead of this game. Winning the opening match in front of their fans against CSKA Moscow was celebrated by the Italian fans, but the Russians didn’t pose serious troubles and they basically tried to defend the scoreless draw.

Things will be much more difficult tonight, because Manchester City will use a 4-3-3 starting formation, in an attempt of offsetting the narrow margin defeats to Bayern Munchen. Two weeks ago, they were the defensive minded team and until the 90th minute, it looks like they were going to get away with this strategy. Unfortunately for them, the Germans scored in the last minute of overtime and the visitors had to concede defeat and hope to recuperate those points in England.

The English side went through a rough stretch itself, but managed to turn the ship around and won the last two games in a convincing manner. They scored a total of 11 goals and allowed just two, en route to a Premier League victory and also advanced to the next stage of the domestic cup. Scoring goals has never been a problem for Manchester City, but they will have the work cut for them tonight because they will take on a team that allowed a single goal over the last six games.

As far as punters are concerned, things couldn’t be easier, because their only purpose is to find the maximum value in the odds offered by bookmakers. It goes without saying, that tonight it is better to side with AS Roma, which is given about even odds not to lose on the road. Even though Manchester City is a force to be reckoned with, at this value they are not worth backing.

The 2013/2014 season was a roller coaster for Monaco, who started on the right foot and seemed to be capable of challenging PSG for the lead. They had a comparable offensive with Falcao being every bit as good as Ibrahimovic, but unfortunately for him and his team, the injuries suffered earlier this season rendered his ambitious worthless. Without the Colombian striker, Monaco sank into near irrelevance and was never a real competitor for the leader.

Under normal circumstances, the team would’ve been happy enough with finishing second in Ligue 1, but with all the money that has been invested, second best was not enough. Luckily for them, they still have unrestricted access to the funds and no important players were transferred out. Furthermore, Falcao is finally fit to play and even though he missed the World Cup 2014, he can still make a difference for his club. He will get the first chance to prove his worth tonight when Monaco takes on lowly Lorient.

Falcao underwent a long and painful rehabilitation process, but what matters most is that he has returned to fitness and is going to play from the very first minute. Monaco will need all their offensive power to rein in PSG, but the real challenge is to turn this formidable squad into a constant team that doesn’t drop points against weak opponents. Lorient is fully aware of what they are going to face tonight and as a result will field a defensive starting formation with a single striker.

They don’t need to take any chances and if they somehow manage to earn one point on the road, that will be enough for them in their fans. Lorient is a very pragmatic team, who is only concerned about ensuring its survival in the French first division and doesn’t have high expectations for the upcoming season. By comparison, Monaco played a string of top friendly games and won all of them, including the narrow margin victory over Arsenal.

Regardless of the competition they played and the importance of the matches they got involved in, Monaco dominated opponents and had superior ball possession. This should show against Lorient, but the question that punters are asking themselves is whether there is a point in backing the hosts at odds of 1.40. There is a clear lack of value in these odds, so punters must push the envelope a bit, more precisely trust Monaco to cover the -1.5 goals spread for the sake of our odds of 2.15 with most bookmakers.

By far the most exciting game of the 21st round of the Irish Premier League is the one between Cork City and Dundalk, the top favorites for lifting the trophy this season. The visitors have the upper hand, because they won the first leg by 4-0 and also have three points ahead, but the playing field could be leveled tonight. They’re in good shape now and despite the fact that they were eliminated from the Europa League qualifiers, the visitors are still a formidable opponent.

The official website features a couple of articles regarding the upcoming match, with most writers being optimistic about their favorites’ chances of winning the match: http://www.dundalkfc.com/kenny-hails-rossiter-influence/. Things would’ve been much better had Dundalk scored one more goal on the road after losing by 0-2 in front of their fans, but even so scoring twice against inexperienced opponents was a decent comeback for the Irish side.

With 49 points to their name, they are in good shape to win the championship but one false step might be enough for them to sink. Cork City is not only their closest rival, but also the most dangerous team of all competitors, mostly due to their flawless home record. They currently sit in the second place with 46 points and they know that this is a do or die situation and will not settle for a draw.

The fact that they lost by 4-0 in the first half of the season greatly hurt their chances, but nothing is lost and a string of positive results can bring them back in the driver’s seat. The hosts need to be particularly careful about blocking Hoban which is Dundalk’s most prolific striker with 13 goals and the only one to play tonight. This is the visitors’ Achilles’ heel, because with a single quality forward, it is very difficult to exercise constant pressure over Cork City.

The hosts lost two games in a row and failed to score a single goal, but even so they have one of the best home records among all Irish Premier League teams. In 10 games played in front of their fans they won seven times, including the last six and the last 10 head to head games clearly favor the hosts, with Dundalk winning just once. Bookmakers are overly optimistic about the leader’s chances to win on the road and as a result overprice the hosts. It is worth giving Cork City some credit ahead of this match, while using the safety net of a double chance wager.

The Netherlands were credited with the second chance in group B, due to the fact that they were playing against the reigning champions. The last time the two teams met at the World Cup, it was they who prevailed in overtime, but on this occasion, the Dutch had it their way. They showed tremendous fighting spirit and found the resources to offset a one goal handicap, as a result of Spain being awarded a penalty. At the end of the match, they had scored five goals and turned into favorites to win the group.

This is exactly what happened and there were very few who expected otherwise, but the most impressive part is that they managed to win all the games. The confrontation against Australia was surprisingly difficult, after the underdogs scored twice, but they couldn’t hold on to their lead. Chile also gave them a run for their money, but two goals scored late in the game were enough to wrap things up and now the Netherlands is gearing up for a confrontation against Mexico.

The North Americans are not to be trifled with and their actions speak louder than words, with the scoreless draw against Brazil being the most impressive result so far. Mexican players are a mix of experience and enthusiasm, a combination that proved fatal for Croatia in the third and decisive match of the group stage. Against the Netherlands, they need to be wary, because venturing too far into the opposite half, can lead to dangerous counterattacks.

Robben and van Persie are definitely the players to watch for in this match, because both of them have scored three goals so far and are well capable of putting the ball past the Mexican goaltender. Both players have the ability of shooting from outside the box, which means that the best defense for the Mexicans is to exercise constant pressure. There is no point in trying to annihilate individual strikers, because the Netherlands have too many options and poor allocation of resources can prove fatal.

The Mexicans are not necessarily hopeless, because they have the likes of Dos Santos and Peralta who played in all three games so far and did a wonderful job. Both of them shoot from outside the box and are dangerous at corners and free kicks, but they are unlikely to be presented with too many opportunities to score. They need to be more clinical and make the most of the few scoring opportunities, something that they failed to do in the previous three games.

Bookmakers are not overly confident about the Netherlands’ ability to win, but they still offer lower odds for the Europeans at 2.15. Past performance also suggests that Mexico is the big underdog, as the two teams met on four occasions and it was the Dutch who prevailed three times while drawing once in overtime. The bottom line is that punters should not go against the current and back the favorites to prevail now, before the odds eventually drop.

England used to be one of the top favorites at the World Cup and European championships, but recent results changed all that. There are not many willing to bet monopoly money on the three Lions to win the tournament and there are some who even doubt their ability to survive the group stage. The fact that they are actually credited with the third chance to win the group stage or make it to the next phase says a great deal about how low the expectations are ahead of this event.

It definitely doesn’t help that England will be playing against Italy and Uruguay, with the latter being the pleasant surprise of the qualifying campaign. The South Americans have a formidable group of strikers and an equally potent midfield, but just like most of their neighbors, Uruguay have serious defensive issues to fix. By contrast, Italy relies on its experience defense and hopes that the aging players will be able to compete at the same level they did four and eight years ago.

More recently, Italy defeated England in the quarterfinals of the Euro 2012 and denied their opponents a chance to score. When the two teams meeting in the opening game, they will play overly cautious, because they know that the one who loses is very likely to be eliminated in the group stage. England needs to pick up all three points against Costa Rica, but past performance suggests that they have serious problems in defeating teams that defend with all lines for 90 min.

The qualifying campaign was no bed of roses either, with England starting slowly and missing many opportunities to win against weaker opponents. Drawing games is their specialty but unfortunately in a competition of such magnitude, you simply can’t defend a scoreless draw and hope for the best. Interesting enough, England has plenty of decent strikers to mount an effective offensive, with Wayne Rooney, Sturridge and Walcott being just a few of Roy Hodgson’s options upfront.

Only time will tell whether the manager will choose to use all these strikers at the same time, or if he will stick to a more conservative 4-4-2 starting formation. The only certainty is that Wayne Rooney is the only player guaranteed to start in all three games of the group stage, assuming he stays healthy. The other strikers with probably get rotated based on their performance in each game, so they have plenty of reasons to do their best each time they join the national team.

The group stage and the event prospects are not overly optimistic and most bookmakers are willing to offer generous odds for England’s success. There is definitely value in backing them to advance to the next stage, even though the risks are equally high, but anything beyond this wager is extremely risky. The players and especially the coach will have a hard time if England is eliminated in the first stage of the competition, so they are expected to throw everything they’ve got to make the last 16.

The inevitable happened and after one year spent with Manchester United, David Moyes should start looking for a new team. His tenure with the Red Devils was relatively short and with a contract of six years, everyone expected him to manage the team for a few more seasons. The problem is that recent results were downright infuriating and now that the Glazer family lost confidence in him, sacking was the only option.

He signed a £4 million-a-year, six-year contract and will be compensated, but what really matters now is what coach will Manchester United hire. There are a couple of options and the fans are hoping that whoever replaces David, will spend more time to help. They still have the shining example of Sir Alex Ferguson in mind, a manager that overcame a lot of adversity in the first three years, but eventually won 13 trophies.

Among the candidates are Borussia Dortmund coach Jürgen Klopp who has plenty of fans at old Trafford, but also Louis van Gaal and even Diego Simeone. The latter is playing a Champions League final in a matter of weeks and regardless of outcome, he will be a suitable replacement for Moyes. He did a fine job at turning Atletico Madrid into a formidable team and with £150 million transfer funds available in the summer he should fare equally well in Manchester.

As for the Red Devils, they will need to wait for another season to participate in the Champions League or even Europa League, as Moyes missed both objectives. The fact that they will finish outside the first five teams is disappointing to say the least and this was the reason used by the owners to sack the manager. The players were not thrilled by the fact that David is gone and most of them rallied behind their former leader that should’ve been given the chance to prove his worth.

Many players consider that sacking him after only a year is unfair, because you need time to build a competitive team, especially when expectations are this high. It is obvious from the very beginning that they didn’t have a hard time filling in for Sir Alex Ferguson but he took a leap of faith nevertheless. Only time will tell whether their new coach will do better than he did, what is certain is that there is no shortage of interested managers to take over Manchester United.

Football is not only the most popular sport these days, but also the leading market in in terms of wagering and that’s why it is essential for punters to learn how to bet on football. Luckily the system is forthright and compared to other sports, football betting is easy to pick up and there are plenty of options to satisfy even savvy punters.

Land-based bookmakers were the first to introduce football betting and players were presented with the option of placing their favorite selections on the betting slip. Initially, players were only allowed to play several games on a coupon but eventually they were permitted to wager on a single event. The transition to online betting was smooth and punters enjoy all their hard earned liberties and also have many more events to choose from.

Speaking of online bookmakers, there are plenty of companies offering similar services and the odds are generally in line. Nevertheless it pays off to use odds comparison software or visit several websites to find out which has the highest odds for a particular event. Bear in mind that the same punters don’t have the highest odds on all football games all the time, and a little research goes a long way. As for the betting process itself, it is every bit as simple as it used to be with brick-and-mortar bookmakers.

Players need to check the box corresponding to the desired outcome, 1 – for a home win, X – for a draw and 2 – for an away win. In order to maximize the odds, players can add more wagers on the same betting tip and these are known as accumulators, with the odds being multiplied. One thing that needs to be fully understood is that an accumulators will need to have all selections matched to be a winner, and a single lost game would lead to the ruin of the entire coupon.

Some bookmakers allow players to lay a particular team, which means that instead of betting on the club to win, they will cash in if that particular team loses or draws. Football betting is very similar to wagering on other sports and those who mastered these rather simple systems can extrapolate and use them to place wagers on other markets. Sometimes bookmakers also offer free bets or refund losing wagers during certain campaigns, and by using these free bets punters will only collect the winnings with the stakes being returned to the bookie.

Punters tend to focus on their favorite sports and refrain from wagering on other competitions, because they don’t have the necessary expertise. This is an intelligent approach because research prevents punters from turning sports betting into gambling, yet it is worth exploring new markets every now and then. Those who plan on betting on horses should know that there are a couple of methods to choose from, each of them with certain benefits and few shortcomings.

The most straightforward way of betting on pretty much any market is taking advantage of fixed odds offered by the bookmaker for a particular event. Different bookies offer different odds and although the discrepancies are small, over the long run they compound. This makes it important to shop around and have an account open with different bookmakers, so that you will always benefit from the best odds.

The betting method itself is simple, as players are expected to choose the winner from a list of competing horses and click on the corresponding odds. Once the bet is placed, the odds will remain fixed just as their name suggests and if the player is correct in predicting a winner, he will cash in on the preset amount. It is generally accepted that this way of betting on horses is the easiest, therefore recommended for beginners.

Another method of betting on horses is Pool betting, which implies that all the money collected as a result of bets being placed are collected into one pool. The operator only tells punters how many people wagered on a particular horse and how much money they spun, before the race begins when all the games are closed. This means that if fewer people bet on a certain horse and he wins, they will share the money collected among themselves which will translate into higher amounts.

Naturally, the pool operator will not leave empty-handed and will collect a percentage of the money to cover its own costs. The idea behind pool betting is that players don’t know for sure how much they will end up winning, because it all depends on how many people bet on each horse. This method of betting on horses can be very entertaining but it is not as widespread as traditional fixed odds wagering. Even so, many online bookmakers allow pool betting and these wagers can also be placed at the racecourse.

Last but definitely not least there is the betting exchanges method, with bookmakers such as Betfair being frequently cited as an example. The difference resides in the fact that players can both bet on a horse to win and lay him, meaning that they wager on a certain horse not to prevail. Those who are even remotely familiar with binary options trading know that this presents punters with the unique opportunity of using hedging strategies.

The idea is to bet on a horse that is priced at even odds or above and then do the exact opposite and wager on him not to win, if the odds suddenly drop below 2.00. This doesn’t happen very often but it is not a rarity either, as bookmakers tend to adjust the odds based on how many people wagered on a certain event in general and the winner in particular.

Another advantage of resorting to betting exchanges instead of fixed odds or betting pools is that you can ask for the desired odds. Assuming you’re not satisfied with what the bookmaker offers, all you need to do is to ask for better odds and then wait for a fellow punter to accept those odds. The worst-case scenario is for nobody to respond positively to your offer, in which case the stakes are refunded.

One can only make an educated decision if he knows all the alternatives, which means that you are now empowered to make an informative choice when betting on horses.